Are You Living a Borrowed Life?

Posted by LeeAnn on May 10th, 2010 at 10:25am

Do you remember the story of the swan that was raised with ducks? And one day the swan discovers her true nature, that she is a swan…..

In many ways we are all swans being raised by ducks.   The swan was borrowing the life of the duck and yet somewhere deep inside her was a question, or a niggle that something wasn’t quite right.   No matter how she tried to be a duck, she was being called to be herself.   You too are called to be yourself.  You are called to live the life that is authentic to you.

Our lineage (parents, grandparents) passes down their ideas of what life is supposed to be.  It is part of our family of origin – the rules, beliefs, ideas and opinions of what life is and how we should act, do and be.  Unconsciously we take on all those rules, until one day we discover that we actually have a choice between continuing to live by somebody else’s idea of what life is and who we are; or who we are called to become.

It is up to each of us to discover our true nature and stake a claim for our purpose.  In the book – The Hungry Spirit: Beyond Capitalism – A Quest for Purpose in the Modern World by Charles Handy – the author introduces the idea of “poverty of aspiration.”  If we are not on a journey of exploring the possibilities of life, of allowing our imaginations to be stirred and new ideas and questions to be explored, we may find ourselves unconsciously falling victim to the life we have been told to accept.

From my own experience, it is a lifelong commitment to find and follow the life that you are meant to express.    Sometimes it takes a major crossroads in health, happiness or finances before we are willing to go there.

I watched my mother give in to her borrowed life.  The price she paid has been serious health challenges, and for her the fear of the unknown has been greater than the price of her health struggles.  In many ways I am grateful to her and her modeling of what stuck-ness has done to her heart and joy.  Her modeling started my journey early – at fifteen.  And even then I got stuck and almost succumbed to the “poverty of aspiration” until I knew deep within me that if I stayed in current circumstance, I too would have a health challenges to deal with.  That was twelve years ago.

Because there is no road map to the discovery process, it is not an easy journey; but then it wasn’t an easy journey for those who settled the West.  To settle the frontier of your soul, you too are being called to a journey… Are you answering the call?  If not now, when?

If you have been on a journey of discovery and are willing to share, I’d love to hear about your story so far.  What have you learned?  What have you discovered about yourself?  If you were to leave a road map to those thinking about starting, what would you tell them?  Drop a note, or email – I’d love to hear your story and love to share with those who are ready!

Happy Trails,

(photo credit: aussiegall)

Under Inward Journey